Poison frontman gives Springfield an eyeful

Wednesday

Sep 24, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 24, 2008 at 6:21 AM

Bret Michaels, frontman of the ’80s hair-band extraordinaire, stopped in Springfield Tuesday for an eye exam. Fans who caught word of the pit stop flocked to LensCrafters in White Oaks Plaza for photos and autographs.

Brian Mackey

First, Paul McCartney. Now, a shot of Poison.

Just weeks after the former Beatle stopped to use the men’s room in Springfield en route to St. Louis, Bret Michaels, frontman of the ’80s hair-band extraordinaire, got his eyes checked Tuesday afternoon at LensCrafters in White Oaks Plaza.

After his checkup, he stood behind the store for more than an hour, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. Parked nearby was Michaels’ black tour bus — emblazoned with his photo and the logo for his VH1 reality show “Rock of Love with Bret Michaels.”

Scores of fans and autograph seekers were waiting when he came out, drawn by word on local radio and a vast network of cell phone calls.

“My cousin from Hawaii called me,” said Mary Thompson of Sherman. “Her sister called her, whose daughter called her, whose sister called her, whose husband called her and said, ‘I work at the mall and Bret Michaels is here.’ ”

Thompson said she has been a fan of Poison — whose concert at the Prairie Capital Convention Center last month drew about 3,500 — since the band formed. She added that she drove at 90 mph from Greenview for the chance to meet Michaels. She got him to sign her bra and took so many pictures that she filled the memory card in her digital camera.

Standing between a large green trash bin and a red van, Michaels posed for what seemed like hundreds of pictures, putting his arm around people and throwing the “rock horns” salute with his other hand.

Men and women — mostly women — had him sign shirts, jeans, bare arms, compact discs and scraps of paper. Many people stood talking on their cell phones; some handed their phones to Michaels for brief conversations with distant fans.

Michaels wore a black T-shirt, ripped blue jeans, Burberry sunglasses and a straw hat over his signature red bandanna. He was unfailingly polite and kept in good spirits the entire time, despite telling one fan he was two hours late for a TV shoot in St. Louis.

In a brief interview, Michaels said he is on the road filming “Rock of Love 3,” the third season of the VH1 reality show in which women compete to be his girlfriend.

“We were up in Chicago last night, I had two nights. We did a show, and then I got with all the girls (and) we partied last night,” Michaels said.

Because he has diabetes — and has since the age of 6 — he called LensCrafters to ask for an eye exam. Loss of eyesight is a common long-term complication of diabetes.

“I have a little twitch in my one eye because we were playing hockey on ‘Rock of Love,’ and I took a puck in the eye. There’s no way to find true love without a little ice hockey,” Michaels quipped. “We had such a great time when we were here doing the concert, we figured, what a beautiful place to stop.”

Michaels expects to be back in Springfield with VH1’s “Rock of Love Tour” early next year.

Dawn Sanders of Springfield, who was at the Aug. 19 concert, had Michaels sign her pink shirt below its plunging neckline.

Asked if she was a Poison fan, Sanders replied, “Look at me, I still have the same hairdo from 1987.”

Brian Mackey can be reached at (217) 747-9587 or brian.mackey@sjr-.com.